The Witches of Dark Root

by April Aasheim [paranormal]

“You don’t have to say anymore,” I said.

  As Aunt Dora had said, we didn’t need to know everything.

  “It’s okay,” he assured me, wrinkling his brow. “At any rate, he and my mother died. Got in a car wreck on their way back from a bar one night. DUI caused by...” He let it hang there, not finishing the sentence.

  “I see.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “So, I went to live with my grandma. Got into trouble at school for all sorts of things. Mainly just being angry, I guess. They weren’t too big into counseling in those days. Then Uncle Joe got involved in my life. Started bringing me here during the summers. Introduced me to books and Magick and...” His eyes fell on me. “...The Maddock girls. You know,” he laughed, his shoulders relaxing. “Ironically, I learned more about being a real man from Uncle Joe then I ever did from my dad.

  “...But, more than anything, I wanted to be like all those cowboys I read about in his library,” Shane added. “They were good guys, you know? Tough guys with big hearts. And even if I couldn't ride fences in the morning and gallop off into the sunset in the evenings, I could still be a cowboy. I could still do the right thing, make an honest living, even kiss a pretty girl or two.”

  A glint touched his eyes just as the last song on the Ipod ended and our dance was done.

  “I think that’s my cue to attend to the cheese,” he said, bowing.

  My sisters and June Bug had already gathered back at the booth and I joined them, sliding in next to Eve.

  “You two looked like you were getting along,” Eve commented, refilling her glass. “Shane always did have a thing for older women. I remember how he mooned after Ruth Anne. Kinda pitiful.”

  Before I could respond that there was nothing going on between Shane Doler and myself, and that if she wasn’t so self-absorbed, she would see that it was her Shane was after, Shane returned with a small silver pot.

  “Sorry I didn’t give you time to order,” he said, placing it on a large trivet in the center of the table. “I figured you would want the spec-ial-ty.”

  He said the last word with a French accent and June Bug giggled.

  We watched as he turned the dials on the pot and added chunks of cheese, spices, and a liquid. The cheese melted and we took turns stirring as Paul appeared with a platter of breads, fruits and vegetables. The two demonstrated how to spear the food and dip it in the fondue, while being mindful of the hot pot.

  We took turns and it was so good I soon forgot my ire with Eve.

  “This is amazing,” Merry said, as Shane removed the cheese and replaced it with a pot filled with a clear broth. “Dip Stix certainly got a makeover. Now we need to get people in here.”

  “I’ve put ads in all the local papers and Maggie’s made some amazing fliers that we’ve been handing out. I’d say we are well on our way.” Shane twisted the lid on a bottle of cider. “Now for the wine sauce...all non-alcoholic.”

  He winked as he poured several bottles into the pot, raising and lowering his arms like he was leading an orchestra. I was impressed that he seemed to know exactly how much to put in without a measuring cup.

  Paul emerged again, carrying a silver tray filled with an assortment of bite-sized meats and potatoes. “Tell me what you think of this,” he said. “I don’t eat meat myself anymore, but I still like to hear about it.”

  His eyes met mine and I blushed.

  “Oh Paul,” Eve said, and I knew that I had been caught. “Maggie doesn’t understand cuisine. She’s been living like a cave woman in that commune of hers, haven’t you Mags?”

  Eve turned towards me, fluttering her eyelashes innocently.

  “She’s right,” I said, spreading my hand. “No fine dining there. Just raw meat and wild sex.”

  Paul’s smile broadened and I fluttered my own lashes, just as innocently.

  “Maggie! There’s a child here,” Merry reminded me.

  “It’s okay, Aunt Maggie,” June Bug reassured me. “I wouldn’t eat raw meat. It’s yucky.”

  We all laughed, except for Eve, who was stabbing at a piece of pork on her plate.

  “I can’t wait to get back to New York,” she said, lowering her skewer into the pot. “I miss places with atmosphere.” She sighed dramatically as she watched her meat turn from pink to white. “There’s this one place that is positively charming. It’s so nice you can’t get in without at least a two month’s reservation. But the owner knows me, so, you know...”

  “Would that place be Hooters?” I asked, nonchalantly nibbling on a potato.

  Eve’s head turned swiftly in my direction, her eyes narrowing. “No, it’s not Hooters,” she hissed. “It’s a nice place, something you wouldn’t know anything about.”

  Her face had paled to an ashen white, but I wasn’t done with her yet.

  “Does the whole crew go to this nice place after the ‘show’ or just you?” I said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The cast members of your shows. Do you all go together?”

  Eve’s response was measured and careful. “I go there on dates, Maggie. Another thing you probably know nothing about. How long has it been since you’ve been on a real date? One that didn’t involve handing out religious tracts or shucking corn?”

  I turned towards the kitchen, my eyes finding Paul. “It has been awhile,” I admitted. “But I think that’s about to change.”

  Eve’s energy grew as hot as the liquid in the pot. She watched me, trying to figure out how much I knew.

  June Bug pushed her empty plate away. “Are we still going to the mall tomorrow, Aunt Evie?”

  Now it was my turn to be surprised. “I didn’t know you guys were going to the mall?”

  “Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Eve widened her eyes. “I’m taking Merry and June Bug to the mall in Linsburg and then to the movies. Won’t that be fun, honey?” she asked June Bug, who nodded. “Sorry I didn’t invite you, Maggie.” Eve flipped back her hair. “...But you’ve been so busy lately, pining for things, I didn’t think you’d have the time.”

  “That’s fine,” I said as Shane removed the pot and replaced it with a small black cauldron.

  June Bug clapped as Shane poured in pieces of chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers.

  “...On Thursday, I’m taking them to the County Fair in Herston,” I added to Eve. “We’re going to eat lots of cotton candy and go on rides and have so much fun we may never want to come back. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

  June Bug nodded as she lowered a strawberry into the chocolate.

  “Well,” Eve fired back. “The next day, Merry and I...”

  “No!” Merry’s hands slammed down on the table. We all stopped what we were doing, including Shane and Paul. “No,” she said again, her voice softer. “June Bug and I aren’t going with either of you. Not while you act like this.”

  “Act like what?” Eve and I asked.

  “I’m not a thing. You can’t fight over me.” Merry shook her head, her eyes moistening. “I put up with it when we were younger because you were both kids and needed me.” She straightened her back, wiping her eyes with her hand. “But, in case you haven’t noticed, we aren’t children anymore, and I have one of my own to worry about.”

  Merry pushed herself out of the booth and dashed towards the bathroom.

  “She’s going to be okay,” I said, my eyes following Merry as I tried to comfort June Bug. “She just needs a minute.”

  “She cries a lot,” June Bug replied, wiping her hands with one of my swan napkins. “Ever since daddy left.”

  Eve looked at me for confirmation and I nodded that it was true. I suddenly felt terrible, wishing I could take back my actions. Eve and I had been acting like spoiled children. After everything Merry had gone through, she didn’t deserve to be caught up in this.

  “Can you stay here while we check on your mama?” I asked June Bug.

  She nodded and pulled out a coloring book and crayons from her mother’s purse. Eve and I
went into the bathroom, finding Merry sobbing over the sink.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. Merry had always been the strong one and our protector. I couldn’t handle seeing her like this.

  “Me, too,” Eve said.

  “Well, you should be.” Merry pulled away and turned towards the mirror, placing her hands on either side of the sink. I could see her reflection. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was running. “I can’t handle this little feud of yours anymore. Not now. Not when I have other things to worry about. Why do you think I left Dark Root in the first place?”

  I had always assumed she had left for the same reasons the rest of us had, to get away from Mother. But now she was saying that it was because of us. Eve and I looked guiltily at one another. We had driven our beloved sister away.

  “I just can’t do it anymore,” Merry said, her words breaking apart as she cried. She turned to us and buried her face in our shoulders. We put our arms around her back, smoothing her hair and telling her everything was going to be okay.

  “It’s not going to be okay,” she sobbed. “My life is a mess. My husband took off to Florida with some coffee shop barista. I’m all alone.” She threw back her head, releasing a mournful wail.

  My heart broke into a million pieces at the sight of my sister in so much pain––Merry, who had never done anything bad to anyone in her entire life. Eve deserved this. I deserved this. But not Merry. It just wasn’t fair.

  Eve filled a Dixie cup with water and Merry drank it.

  She collected herself, then began again. “Now I’m a single mom living in Kansas. The bills are stacking up and I think I’m going to lose the house. I was hoping that by coming here, I’d at least have you girls, but I’m starting to think I’m on my own.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. And I meant it.

  “Me, too,” Eve added, wrapping her arms around us both. “Everything’s going to be okay. You’ll see.”

  We stood there under the dim fluorescent lights of the Dip Stix bathroom, all of us crying. Merry for the life she had just confessed, Eve and I for the broken lives we were too embarrassed to talk about. I looked up, my eyes meeting Eve’s. Maybe we would never be friends, but we would always be sisters.

  “Sorry to interrupt you, ladies.” Shane’s voice said from the other side of the door. Eve opened it and he stood there with Paul by his side, a concerned look on both their faces. “Maggie, I think you have a visitor.”

  He pushed open the door fully and I could see a man standing off to the side, a man with gray desperate eyes.

  I stepped forward. “Michael...?”

  Twenty: Go Your Own Way

  “Maggie! Thank God I found you!” Michael rushed towards me with such purpose that everyone except Paul moved out of his way.

  “Who are you?” Paul demanded, barricading himself between us.

  Though Michael outweighed him by a good forty pounds, Paul looked ready to fight.

  “Is this your boyfriend?” Michael eyed Paul, clenching his fists. “Now I know why you left. You had this guy waiting for you.”

  I held my hand up to Paul. “It’s okay.” Turning to Michael with crossed arms. “That is not my boyfriend and you know the reason I left. Now why are you here?”

  Michael looked from me to Paul then back again, trying to decide if he believed me. At last, his eyes softened. He moved inside the restroom with me and I stepped back at the same time. I could feel everyone watching, except for Merry who had brushed past us and was escorting June Bug out the front door.

  “I love you, Maggie,” he said, almost whimpering. He shook his head and held his palms out to me. “God knows, I’m sorry for what I did. I have no idea why I did it. It was like I was possessed.”

  I glanced at Eve. I hadn’t told her the details of my departure and I was embarrassed that it was coming out this way. To her credit, her face remained stoic as she hovered protectively near, along with Paul and Shane.

  “Michael, you need to go,” I said, pushing him to the side as I tried to leave the restroom. “I can’t do this.”

  “Can’t do what?” he said, capturing one of my hands and placing it on his heart. “Go back to the man you love?” Still holding my hand he took a deep breath and lowered himself onto one knee. “Maggie, I know I said that marriage didn’t matter to me in the past but...” His free hand reached inside his pocket.

  My eyes widened as I realized what he was about to do. “Michael. No. Not now.” I turned to the others. Eve looked confused while Shane and Paul still appeared angry.

  “...Will you marry me?” Michael continued, opening a box that contained a gold ring with a large pink-white diamond.

  Eve let out a gasp. I motioned to the others that I needed a moment alone and they moved away from the doorway, ready to jump in if necessary.

  “Michael...” I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry. All those years of wishing he had asked me, and here he was, proposing in a cramped, public restroom.

  Merry returned to the restaurant without my niece. “I ran into Marion next door at the candy store. She is going to watch June Bug for a while.” She didn’t acknowledge Michael kneeling on the floor or the box in his hand.

  Michael did a double-take, but was not deterred.

  “I’ll be so good to you, Maggie. We don’t have to go back to Woodhaven. We could go anywhere. Get real jobs. Live like normal people. You could pursue your art or whatever you wanted. We can make it.” He lifted the ring from the box. It sparkled enticingly.

  Images of Michael and I––riding off into the sunset in our white van––ran through my brain. We could start over. Start a family. Michael had driven all this way here and changed his views on marriage. It must mean something.

  Merry came to my side. I could feel her eyes on me.

  “I don’t know...” I said, running my fingers over the diamond, feeling the smoothness of the rock between its rough edges.

  Michael stood up, looking down at me, his gray eyes filled with promises. I felt dizzy, lost in that wave of love and affection I had once held for him.

  “I just...” I looked at the floor, searching for the right words. “I want to, Michael. I want to say yes so badly, but...”

  “Then do. It’s that easy. You say yes, we pack up your stuff and get the hell out of here. You told me yourself how much you hated this town.”

  I glanced at Merry. Her face was tight, but otherwise emotionless.

  “I wish it was that easy...”

  “It is.” Michael attempted to place the ring on my finger, but my hands curled involuntarily. “Dammit, Maggie!” he said, his jaw clenching. “What else do I have to do to prove that you are important to me? I spent a fortune on this ring and learned how to drive a stick shift for you. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

  I nodded. He was right. The ‘old’ Michael wouldn’t have done either of those things. I started to speak, to agree that, yes, I would be his wife, when Merry finally interrupted.

  “Maggie, can I have a word with you please?”

  “Can it wait?” Michael said. “We are in the middle of something here.”

  “Yes, I see that. But no, Michael, it cannot wait.” Merry turned and faced him directly. He towered over her by almost a foot, but she stood her ground, arms crossed. “If you give me five minutes with my sister and she still wants to marry you, I will give you both my blessing.”

  Michael narrowed his eyes, turning his head slightly to the side, trying to get a read on her ‘angle.’

  “Five minutes,” Merry repeated. “If you are really supposed to be together, five minutes won’t matter.”

  Michael exhaled and nodded. “Okay.”

  Merry grabbed me by the arm and walked me through the restaurant and out the front door, shutting it behind her. It was dark and cold and I could see my breath. I bounced in place, wishing I had brought my coat.

  “You’re not seriously going to marry this guy, are you?”

  “Mayb
e. I don’t know.”

  “I’m not sure what happened to you two down there, but I can tell you one thing, he doesn’t love you.”

  As much as I adored my sister, I felt like she was crossing the line. She didn’t know anything about Michael or me. She was long gone by the time Michael had come into my life.

  “Of course he loves me. He drove all the way here to get me. Besides,” I said, staring into the night, which was growing colder by the minute. “...I miss him.”

  “Maggie!” Merry shook my shoulders, bringing me back. “Stop being stubborn and listen to someone’s advice for once. He––Doesn’t––Love––You. Period.”

  Her words felt like a slap in the face.

  “Why are you saying that?” I said. “You might be able to sense people’s emotions, but sometimes you are wrong. You were wrong about Frank, weren't you?”

  She looked at me, expressionless. Now it was I who had crossed the line. I wished I could take back those words, but it was too late. I was sure she was going to really slap me, or worse, walk away. But she didn’t.

  “Stop being stupid, Maggie,” she finally said, her voice kinder than her words. “I need to tell you something, so, okay here goes...” Merry drew in a long breath. “When you first disappeared, Eve called and let me know. I was so worried about you, Maggie. So, so worried. I did some research on the computer and tracked you down.”

  “How...?”

  Merry ignored my question. “I found you guys in Kansas. It was only two hours away from where I lived. I tried calling and I got Michael on the phone. At first he denied that you were there and finally he admitted you were, but he kept saying you were too busy to take my calls. This happened about six or seven times. Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer and I made Frank drive us to your town. When I got there, Michael answered the door. He wouldn’t let me see you or talk to you. He saw that I was worried and seven months pregnant but he told me you didn’t want to see me or any other member of our family again. I knew that wasn’t the truth. I knew you would see me, but he wouldn’t let you.”

  Merry paused, giving me the chance to digest what she was saying.